DSA Message

Direct selling faces exciting times: a wider range of businesses have come to recognize our channel’s strategic advantages—its ability to forge unrivaled relationships between consumers and the
individual direct sellers who bring the promise of our brands to life.

As the channel’s reputation elevates, our companies are steadily attracting executive talent from some of the world’s most recognizable consumer-facing companies.

The perspectives and insights of these new C-suite and executive-level hires are pivotal. These people are helping companies reposition and provide a more competitive stance that takes on online retailers and the technology platforms that dominate the gig economy. We owe it to them to provide the educational and onboarding experience that ensures their success in the channel.

The Crummer Strategic Optimization Program for Direct Selling Executives at Rollins College is a valuable new addition to DSA’s educational offerings. DSA’s SmartStart and Direct Selling Boot Camp which have served as a “direct selling 101” will continue to address companies seeking to onboard new hires. The Crummer program—slated to begin in February 2020 with pre-registration now being accepted at crummer.rollins.edu/dsa—is a “direct selling 201.” It offers onboarding curriculum that embraces executives’ experiences while ensuring they gain insights to ensure their success.

With input from DSA and direct selling leaders, Professor Greg Marshall—a DSEF Fellow who serves as Charles Harwood Professor of Marketing and Strategy at the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida—has developed the Crummer Strategic Optimization Program for Direct Selling Executives program to facilitate the successful integration of new and existing executives within direct selling companies.

“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”—John Wooden

Comprised of both in-person and remote learning components, the program will adhere to the hallmarks that make DSA’s education programs stand apart from others.

With the objectives of enhancing retention, increasing self-efficacy, promoting the importance of company culture, facilitating role clarity, and expediting social integration, the curriculum will be imbued with the real-world wisdom of leaders who have endured the fullrange of direct selling’s business cycles. The exchange of ideas between senior-level peers responsible for making executive decisions in leading direct selling companies every day makes this program unique.

The Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College opened on June 6, 1957, and after 60 years, some things never change: outstanding faculty, incredible students and alumni, and a commitment to excellence.

I encourage leaders from all direct selling member companies to visit the program website crummer.rollins.edu/dsa to read the course description and topic outline. I also urge you to view the early-August discussion with Dr. Marshall, where we reviewed the program and a webinar that continues to be the source of input from executives from across the direct selling spectrum.

As our families and friends send our kids back to school, let’s remember that it’s always a season for learning and that executive education—no matter the level—is what leads to success.